


Absence of Battle

by stelliums



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: AkuRoku Week (Kingdom Hearts), M/M, Mentioned Hayner (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Isa (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Olette (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Pence (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliums/pseuds/stelliums
Summary: akuroku week #6 - 'winner' / 'struggle'the couple's flirting interrupts a sparring session.
Relationships: Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 10
Collections: Akuroku Week 2020





	Absence of Battle

Axel was sat on the benches of the makeshift arena. The Olympus Colosseum was still being rebuilt, so it was out of business for now. The ‘right’ thing to do would have been to help out Riku and Hercules, but he had wanted to stay home that day. He was in Twilight Town’s main square, waiting for Roxas. He had called him and told him to meet them outside; it was more than likely that he had slept in. 

“Morning, Roxas!” Kairi’s cheery voice alerted him to Roxas’s presence before he realised that he had already joined them. She was in the same boat as he was right then. A few days ago, she had been feeling unwell. What was a better way to strengthen up again than training with her favourite sparring partner? They had been training all morning, under the wide eyes of Hayner, Pence and Olette and the snide score-taking of Isa. Xion was waiting on Roxas before she leapt into the fray. Two against one was unfair, she insisted.

Roxas tugged his jacket over his shoulders and summoned his Keyblade. The air was still fresh with a new day, although afternoon was creeping in. “Nice to know you’re feeling better. So, what is it? Two against two? Hm... I’ll partner with you, then. What do you think, Axel? Me and Kairi versus you and Xion? It makes sense... one experienced wielder with one newbie.”

“You’ll regret calling me a ‘newbie’ when we kick your ass!” Kairi brandished her own Keyblade in front of her. Unlike Roxas, she had already had plenty of practice that morning. 

Xion giggled from the benches and broke away from her conversation with Olette. She swung her Keyblade casually over her shoulder as she sauntered over to join Kairi, confidence in her step. “So, ready to go?” She asked, a question for Axel and a challenge to Kairi and Roxas. “I won’t go easy on you.”

“You’d better not!” Roxas pulled two Keyblades out of thin air. They didn’t look like a natural set - Oathkeeper was pale and delicate-looking, while Oblivion was darker and bulkier. He wondered how Roxas could wield two Keyblades so effectively.

Axel had hardly gotten a handle on wielding one. For a few weeks, Ven had tricked him into thinking that holding his Keyblade backhanded was, in fact, a better way to fight. Perhaps it had worked for him, but in Axel’s case, Ven had been sorely mistaken. He twirled his Keyblade around like it was one of his chakras, a smirk engraved on his face. Roxas crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He knew that he was showing off for him – nothing could be more obvious.

Kairi struck first while Axel had admittedly been distracted. He raised his Keyblade to meet her own. The force pushed her backwards as Xion launched an attack from behind. There had been a silent agreement not to cause too much harm, although avoiding any damage would be impossible. Xion and Kairi both had similar, serious expressions on their faces as they fought, weaving around each other like sparring was another kind of graceful dance.

“Now it’s just you and me.” Axel grinned, eyeing Roxas. Was he being too cocky? Perhaps, but he saw no shame in it. These sparring matches were only a game, to keep their fighting muscles strengthened in absence of many real battles. “How’s it going to be, Roxas–“

Oblivion rested at his throat within a second. Axel could feel Roxas’s breath on his skin. He had moved from one end of the makeshift arena to the other without breaking a sweat. Teleportation and the like wasn’t prohibited.

“–I’m not going to let you win this time.” Roxas stood in front of him, for once towering above him. He had let himself get knocked down. Axel laughed softly and shook his head. If he was going to lose to anyone, it may as well be Roxas. Roxas tilted his chin upwards with the edge of the blade. He knew what he was doing, the smirk that remained on his face confirmed it. 

Axel swallowed a lump in his throat. If Roxas was truly his enemy, he would be unsure whether to be terrified or attracted to him. Luckily for him, he tended to only find himself on the sharp end of Roxas’s blades during training sessions. His thoughts were interrupted by metal digging into his throat and the pain of the blade nicking the skin of his neck. Roxas leaned in closer and wiped a bead of blood from the wound. He swiped his tongue over his own finger to clean it. 

“What are you going to do about this, then? Just let me walk all over you?”

_Yes, I would love to._ Axel couldn’t take his eyes off of him, how powerful he looked. The sun framed his head like a halo, but the look in his eyes was anything but angelic. Roxas offered him no space to stand back up, so Axel raised his Keyblade and, with both hands on the blade, pushed him back to allow himself to stand. His feet slid across the dusty ground, the heels of his shoes preventing him from hitting the benches. 

He didn’t stop to brush himself off. Roxas wasn’t going easy on him, so he wouldn’t hold back either. He had gotten distracted, lost his focus; with Roxas, that kind of carelessness was fatal. Axel noticed Xion getting the upper hand over Kairi, who was breathing heavily from their sustained, rapid duel. His emerald eyes centred on Roxas, who was hardly shaken by being pushed away. He launched himself at him, their Keyblades sliding over each other as Roxas effortlessly blocked the blow.

“Come on! You can be faster than that-” Within a second, Roxas was behind him with his Keyblade to his throat. Two points to Roxas. Not that anyone was counting - Isa had grown disinterested in taking scores and the small audience of Hayner, Pence and Olette were having a heated debate over ice cream. Roxas huffed. “What did they teach you while I was gone? If you wanted to learn you should’ve asked me.”

Axel turned to face him. His opponent had been too careful not to draw blood, leaving him with space to manoeuvre. The blade only trimmed a few auburn hairs from his shoulders; he should have tied it up that day. “I would, sweetheart, but you were... out of commission.” His voice was notably softer and a gentle smile graced his lips. He took the collar of Roxas’s shirt by both hands and pulled him into a kiss. Roxas relaxed his grip on his Keyblades, if only for a second. Just as he had expected. He planted his Keyblade into the ground as though conceding defeat.

Kairi paused and glared over at Roxas. “I had the exact same training and I turned out fine! We’re on the same team-!” She took herself over to them. “Hey, lovebirds!” 

A wall of fire blocked her path. Roxas had pulled away from him upon hearing Kairi’s voice. His lips had lingered against his, unwilling to let go until he found that he was trapped. He had realised, Axel hoped, that two could play the game of distraction. 

Axel smirked and leaned on the hilt of his Keyblade. “Careful, Roxas.” He allowed himself to be a little cocky; Roxas had no space to move and running through fire, even the kind generated by magic, was... ill-advised. With broad strokes of his Keyblade, he slowly pushed Roxas towards the fire. His opposition was fierce - he would expect nothing less from him - but his scuffed, worn-out shoes crept dangerously close to the edge of Axel’s ring. Without thinking of the battle, Axel slipped his hand around Roxas’s waist to hold him back from the flames. 

“What’s this? Some kind of power play?” Roxas’s expression was one of equal shock and admiration behind the teasing, light tone. The flames slowly started to die down around them, but Axel’s grip only tightened on him as he drew Roxas closer. He dipped him like they had been performing a dance rather than a battle, an unremovable grin on his face. “Fine, fine, I’ll give you that one. Not that we’re exactly scoring any more.”

“Give me? I won that point, fair and square!” To make his point, Axel moved his arm from against Roxas’s back and swung his Keyblade underneath him to destabilise his feet before he could properly balance himself. Axel held his Keyblade to Roxas’s throat, one hand resting against his hip. “See? I win. Three to two.”

Roxas glanced at Kairi in disbelief. “That doesn’t count, right?”

His sparring partner only responded with a shrug. “I guess it does. Looks like we’ll have to put more effort into the teamwork next time, then.”

Xion and Axel shared a look. From the small cuts across Xion’s face and the bandages wrapped around her hands, it was quite obvious that she and Kairi had been somewhat evenly matched. That, or she had chosen to forfeit this match to let Kairi catch up. “I don’t know...” She held a hand to her chin. “We think this match went pretty great.”


End file.
